


Fool Me Once

by bandastrophic (werelocked)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Famous Harry, Famous Liam, Famous Zayn, M/M, YouTuber Louis, YouTuber Niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-07 10:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4259973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werelocked/pseuds/bandastrophic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall spends way too much time on the Internet. But it's okay, because that's his job now and he gets paid for it.<br/>He also spends way too much time obsessing about One Direction. He doesn't get money for that, but Louis does make fun of him a lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this is going to take very serious liberties with radio shows because I've never seen what happens behind the scenes and I've never actually heard Nick Grimshaw's show at all. Nonetheless, I hope you guys like it!

“Oh no, Niall.”

Startled, he jerked awake and almost fell out of his computer chair. “Whazza?”

Louis shook his head at him and tsked. “How many times have I caught you fall asleep editing?”

“Shove it.” Niall yawned. He spun his chair back around to face his computer, jiggling the mouse so the screen lit up. Last night’s video popped up with his face frozen in a cheesy grin. “Maybe I’m just more dedicated than you.”

Still looking unimpressed, Louis dropped a white bag next to his mouse. “If ‘dedication’ means getting drool all over your keyboard, I don’t think I need it.”

Niall opened the bag to reveal a breakfast sandwich, the smell of sausage and maple syrup wafting to greet him. “Oh,” he moaned. “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”

Louis laughed. He took a sip of his coffee, effectively ignoring the blond’s pout and swatting away his hands. “So is it ready to post?”

“Mhm,” Niall nodded with a full mouth. “Just need to add the background music.” He crammed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and wiped off his hands before touching his computer again. 

Curious, Louis hovered over his shoulder while Niall searched for a soft song for his five minute video.

“What do you think, Lou? Should I slip in some Justin Bieber?”

The older boy knew his friend was mostly musing to himself, though he couldn’t help but roll his eyes anyway. He full-on groaned once he saw Niall’s official pick. “18? One Direction? Seriously?”

“It’s instrumental. Nobody’s even going to notice.” Niall said innocently.

Louis snorted. “Yeah. Right. Just hurry up, Grimmy’s waiting for us down at Radio One.”

“What’s he want?” Niall asked absently as he logged into YouTube. He uploaded the finished video and hoped it processed and published quickly.

“Dunno. Says he’s got a surprise for us.” Louis shrugged.

“Let’s go. I’ll check this when I get back. Grab my camera, yeah?”

 

“Where are we going today, Lou?”

His friend made a face for the camera. “Radio Three, Two, One!”

“Apparently radio host Nicholas Grimshaw has a surprise for us.” Niall turned his camera around to his own face. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wonder what it is.”

“Well your third-year anniversary on YouTube is coming up.” Louis pointed out.

Niall shook his head. “Don’t think he’d know that, he’s more your friend than mine.”

Louis hummed but didn’t answer. He turned away from Niall to look at the shops they were walking past.

“Louis? What do you know?”

“Nothing!” he squeaked. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

“What do you think, friends? Is Louis hiding something from me?” Niall winked conspiratorially at the camera. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it out of him.”

Niall spent the rest of the walk trying to do just that. As much as he whined and begged however, Louis refused to spill. Once they entered the building and climbed into the elevator Louis got antsy.

“Hey dude. How about you let me hold your camera for a second?” Louis asked with pretend innocence.

“Sure.” Niall said warily. He wordlessly handed over his camera just as the elevator opened again. They filed out and went down the hall into the studio on the left.

Nick Grimshaw was sitting in front of the soundboard with black headphones on. Niall knocked softly on the side of the door so he would notice them. He spun around to face them and gave them a wide grin.

“Hey!” He pulled the headphones off and gingerly put them down. “Perfect timing! I’ll introduce you as soon as this song’s over.”

“Oh-okay?” Niall shot a questioning look at Louis. He didn’t think they would be going on air, he just thought they would wait for Grimmy’s show to end.

Louis just shrugged and sat down on one of the two empty chairs. Niall plopped down beside him and they both put the extra headphones on.

“Looks like our special guests have just arrived. You might know them as ‘Tommo91’ and ‘HoranTheWorld’ on YouTube please say hello to Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan!”

“‘Sup.”

“Hello Radio One!.” Niall chirped.

“Welcome, welcome. How are you guys doing today?” Nick asked.

“Just fine, Grimmy. How’ve you been, man?” Louis nodded.

“I’m great.” Nick grinned. “And you Niall? Louis was telling me that you’ve just hit some kind of milestone recently?”

Niall cleared his throat. “Right. Yeah. Actually it’s about to be my three year anniversary on YouTube in about a week.”

“And Niall’s channel just broke 2 million followers.” Louis bragged.

Raising his eyebrows, Nick nodded. “Impressive. How’d you celebrate?”

“Tommo took me out for some pints. Got to see a bunch of me mates and had a good time.” Niall grinned.

“Yeah Louis sent me a link for the link for - for what, your vlog? I think I saw a bit of that night. Just enough to see you and Louis rocking out at some bar’s karoake.” Nick chuckled.

He remembered that night clearly. He and Louis had pregamed in their apartment, downing two or three pints before walking to the pub down the street. Louis had convinced a lightly buzzed Niall to bring along his guitar case. After knocking back three more drinks he and Louis were up on the small corner stage, belting out covers. They ended the night with an original they had written together, earning the applause of their friends and three drunk audience members.

“'Twas a right laugh.” Louis cackled, bringing Niall’s attention back to the conversation.

Nick laughed. “Okay so we kid. But I’m not going to lie, you two have some real talent. Great job guys. Honestly.”

“Thank you mate.”

“Thanks man.”

“Alright so I’ve got a surprise for Niall here.” Nick stated seriously. “Louis contacted me while back, saying he wanted to do something special for his best mate’s milestones.”

Touched, Niall looked at Louis. “Ya didn’t have to do that-”

“And after a few more meetings we came up with the perfect surprise. I talked to some friends, pulled in a few favors, and did some _serious_ begging… but Niall Horan for next week’s video, you will be interviewing One Direction.”

His first reaction was to snort. His loud, carefree laughter was the only sound in the studio. Yeah, he was going to meet the most famous pop band in the world right now. And then Cher Lloyd was going to return his calls and want him on her next album.

Once he caught his breath he realized he was the only one laughing. The other two just stared at him. The smile slipped off his face. “Yer not serious?”

Louis bounced in his seat, grinning maniacally. “Yep!”

It was like his breath evaporated in his lungs. He stared at the two in front of him in disbelief.

“And there you have it. Our own Niall Horan, speechless, for possibly the first time in his life.” Louis said to the camera with a cocky smirk.

“Niall?” Nick asked warily.

“I - I’m going to meet… I get to _interview_ … One Direction?” Niall wheezed.

“I’m going to have to ask you not to faint, Niall.” Nick said with false sternness. “Can’t have you braining yourself on this expensive equipment.”

Louis flashed a thumbs up at the camera before finally turning it off. The next moment he had a lap full of Niall. “Thank you, Lou. Thank you thank you thank you.” He pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek.

Nick laughed. “And with that happy ending, we’re out of time. Thank you to our special guests. It’s been Nick Grimshaw for Radio One, and I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Nick. Thank you so much.” Niall said, turning wide puppy eyes to the host.

“Not a problem, Niall.” Nick assured him.

“Seriously. I can’t believe you and Louis did this for me. I can’t imagine what you had to do-”

Nick shook his head. “Nah dude. Like I said, I just called in a few favors. I made the offer and the band was interested so it’s going to happen. Congrats. And great job on your channel man, you’re really killing it.”

After a few handshakes (from Louis) and a lot more thank you’s (from Niall) the two of them finally left.

Niall was hyped. He couldn’t stop bouncing on his toes or pulling Louis into another hug at every stop along the way. Once they made it into their flat he dragged his best friend down on the couch and slung his feet across Louis’ lap.

“I can’t believe you’d do this for me.” Niall confessed quietly. “Thanks for setting this up.”

“Anything for you.” Louis batted his eyelashes and pretended to swoon.

“I take it back. I hate you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Thanks xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note, the Hoverboard Prank I mention is a real thing. I got the idea from MagicofRahat's channel on YouTube. It's pretty rad, I suggest you guys take a look!  
> Also wow this chapter's a lot longer than I meant it to be. Hope you guys like it!

Backstage was chaotic. At least three different people had burst into the green room to ask if anyone had seen Harry.

“Where is that boy?” Liam questioned, biting his lip worriedly. “He knows we’re going on in ten.”

Zayn threw his legs over Liam’s lap to prevent him from standing up to go look for their missing bandmate himself. “Don’t worry. You know he gets lost in his world sometimes. He’s never late to the stage.”

With a sigh Liam relaxed further into the leather couch and closed his eyes. The two of them enjoyed a few more minutes of peace before the stage manager opened the door to usher them out.

Harry was already standing at the base of the ramp they ran up to the stage. He was being yelled at by one of the people Zayn had seen looking for him earlier. Looking sheepish, Harry ran a hand through his curls and that’s when he caught sight of him and Liam.

Immediately the three of them huddled together with their arms around each other. “Sorry guys.” He addressed both of them but was giving puppy eyes solely to Liam. 

“Let’s smash it boys.” Zayn grinned. The other two grinned and then broke apart so they could run up the ramp.

_“Helloooo Wembley!”_

 

“Are we going out tonight, lads?” Zayn asked. They were fresh off the stage and he was buzzing, bouncing on his toes.

Liam shook his head. “We really shouldn’t. We’ve got an early start tomorrow. Two interviews in a row.”

“Three.” Harry murmured.

“What was that, Haz?”

“We have three interviews. We promised Grimmy last week we’d meet with those YouTubers remember?”

Oh right. Zayn almost forgot he was going to meet Niall Horan and his friend-

“Niall and Louis.” Liam recalled. “I wonder what they’ll have us do. Don’t think it’s going to be like the other interviews.”

“I think it’s going to be fun.” Harry mumbled, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Zayn narrowed his eyes. What was that about? Before Zayn could needle information - or blackmail - out of Harry, the younger boy slipped into the tour bus. He followed Liam into the back lounge and passed Harry in his bunk with his headphones on, laptop propped on his tummy.

When Liam pulled out his cell to call Sophia, Zayn gave up on hope of making any plans with his bandmates. The nights before they had ‘an early start’ Liam usually went to bed early, and a phone or Skype call to Sophia meant his friend close to turning in. He’d probably crash as soon as the bus made it to their hotel for the night.

Zayn decided to take Harry’s example. He made himself comfortable on the couch and pulled his laptop off the coffee table. Their earlier conversation had given him an idea.

Honestly, he had never heard of Niall Horan before last week. When Grimmy had presented the offer as a favor for his friend Louis, it had been Harry who agreed right away. Zayn went along with it because he thought it would be something extra for his fans. After the deal was made, he’d gotten curious and started his own research. 

Really he only watched a few videos but Zayn had to admit he was impressed. The whole channel was centered around music starting with his username, taken from a Beyonce song. The explanation for that had been the first video Zayn clicked on. It had been an clever, hilarious video of this blond kid doing the cover with a ridiculous crown on his head.

The blond - Niall - had a few more covers as well as a fair amount of original songs. Another segment that caught Zayn’s attention was that Niall made videos about other bands once a month. Whether it be interviewing a band from the area or song and album reviews, Niall said he wanted to ‘connect the music world.’ Whatever that meant.

Zayn had refrained from doing it last week, but now that he was about to meet this guy tomorrow he was curious what his thoughts were about, well, him. So he put his headphones on and opened his browser and pulled up Niall’s channel. He decided to start at the most current reaction video and work his way through previous albums.

_Hey friends! So I’m sorry but this album review is going to be a little different from the others. I usually go through and talk about the strengths and weaknesses, what my favorite/least favorite song is and all that… But I’m too tired for all that professional shit because as you guys know I was at the midnight album release of at the record store. I saw a few of you guys there and got to take a picture with you guys and our albums so I hope you went straight home to listen to it cause I’m gonna spoil it for you._

A tapping on his shoulder interrupted him. Still on the phone, Liam gestured to the front of the bus. The three of them climbed out of the bus and their security guided them through the hotel and into their rooms.

Zayn settled down in his bed and opened his laptop again. The video was waiting right where he left off.

_Truly epic. Mind-blowing, really. My boys smashed it on another level -_

 

Zayn didn’t hate interviews. He just didn’t like them very much either.

They were never about the music. Not when most of the questions revolved around Harry’s dating life, trying to ‘clear up rumors’ about the latest ‘scandal’ the boy was supposedly involved in. The interviewers always seemed more interested in wondering what Zayn’s ‘dream date’ would be and questioning when the two ‘bachelor heartthrobs’ would settle down like Liam had.

It was all shit. One Direction had changed a lot in the past four years they’d been together. Zayn wanted to talk about their journey musically, and all the new plans they had for the future. Not about the decision that drove him to grow out his hair.

And Zayn was very comfortable with his privacy, thanks very much. Which is why he only raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the question _"so! Is there anyone special in your life, Zayn?"_ He knew he’d get flack from management for being rude so he added a curt “No.” and the interviewer quickly moved on. After a few more questions they wrapped up and loaded back onto the bus.

“Hey Hazza can I borrow your laptop? I left mine in my hotel room.” Zayn said.

Harry and Liam were sitting at the small table by the kitchen eating cereal. “Sure mate.” the youngest one said with his mouth full.

Zayn grabbed the laptop from Harry’s bunk and joined his friends. He turned it on and passed it to Harry so he could put in his password.

“So listen lads. After this with Niall and Louis, we’ve got an interview with Nick Grimshaw. He texted me earlier and said it’s going to be quite short, and he only really needs one of us on air.”

“I’ll do it.” Zayn offered, absently stroking the keys as the internet booted up. As soon as he logged into his email though the spotty internet connection fell through.

“Yeah Zayn?” Liam nodded. “Harry and I will probably come l along anyway and we can all do it if you want.”

He shrugged as he went into the internet history in search of his email again. “No worries. It’ll probably only be five -”

“Zayn?” Harry asked in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Clicking on the a different link from earlier this morning, Zayn kept staring at the computer.

_Afternoon internet! I hope everyone’s had a lovely day. And if you haven’t I’ve got just the video to cheer you up. This is my famous Hoverboard Prank and for this I’ve enlisted the help of my best mate and flatmate Niall-_

As the video played, Harry’s eyes grew impossibly wide. Zayn turned the computer around to show Liam the internet history, completely full of Tommo91’s videos.

Liam blinked and cracked a wide grin. “Is this why you were last night? Too busy watching _Lewis?_ ”

“No.” Harry’s cheeks flushed bright red. He covered his face in his hands. “I lost track of time.”

“Aww little Hazza has a crush.” Zayn ruffled his friend’s hair.

Liam laughed brightly. “Do you have a plan? We meet this guy in like, five minutes. If you want to play hard to get I can slip him your number after-”

“No!” Harry squeaked. “Please don’t say anything.”

Just then the bus pulled up to Radio One. The three of them went straight to the elevator to take them to Grimmy’s studio.

“Don’t worry, Harry. We won’t embarrass you. Right, Liam?” Zayn questioned.

Liam shrugged innocently. “Of course not. Who do you think we are?” The two of them burst into mad giggles as the elevator doors opened.

Nick Grimshaw was standing a few feet away, talking to Niall and the shorter brunet Zayn now recognized as Louis.

“Hey boys!” Grimmy gave each of them a hug. “This is Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson. Lads, these are Harry Styles, Liam Payne, and Zayn Malik.”

“We’re One Direction.” The three of them said in unison.

“It’s incredible to meet you in person.” Louis said. He nudged the blond next to him. “This one’s been going absolutely mental over it-”

“Don’t believe a word he says.” Niall laughed, shoving his friend. “If you want to make it through today sane, just ignore him!”

Liam chuckled. “Noted. So what are we doing today then?”

“We’ve decided to do two videos, so we each get one on our channels. Louis usually does pranks and the like, so he’s got something crazy planned.” Niall said.

“Which reminds me.” Louis said suddenly. “If it’s alright with you, would you mind if we moved over to our flat? It’s just all our equipment and props are over there.”

Liam raised his eyebrows at Zayn, who could already see Harry nodding out of the corner of his eye. “That’s alright, yeah.”

“We can all walk over to the apartment, we don’t live that far.” Niall suggested.

“That’s a bad idea.” Grimmy piped up. He pointed over to the corner window. “Your fans know you’re here. They’re already lining up outside.”

“The bus is parked outside and security’s downstairs. Let’s go out back.” Liam said. “Grimmy, we’ll be back for your interview later.”

They all said goodbye to Grimmy and headed back to the elevator. Liam quickly led the way to the bus, and Zayn walked alongside Niall and Louis, until the brunet dropped back. With Harry. Huh.

Just like they said, the flat wasn’t far away. Zayn managed to have a short conversation with Niall, though the other boy stuttered over his words and couldn’t quite look him in the eye.

They decided to film Niall’s video first, since it would take less preparation. In the corner of the living room a camera on a tripod was all set up, and they dragged over four kitchen stools to it. Louis grabbed a handheld camcorder (“to get different angles” he said) and they started recording.

Just like that, the quiet, shy Niall from earlier disappeared. This Niall was chatty and energetic, just like in the videos Zayn had watched. His laid-back friendliness put them all at ease in a way that made Zayn feel like they were having conversation between old friends. During the third or fourth take he and Harry fired bad jokes back and forth that had them all in stitches. Louis laughed so hard he almost dropped the camera.

They took a small break to make sure the Louis’ camera was still functioning. Liam took that time to step away and answer a phone call. Once he returned he informed Zayn and Harry that something had come up with Grimmy, and he'd postponed their interview for a later date. When they started filming again Niall moved on to questions. 

“Alright I got some tweets from your fans, and they want to know your deepest, darkest secrets.” Niall wiggled his eyebrows. “First of all. Harry, we’re dying to know. Is that a wig?”

Harry made a face that was so offended Niall doubled over with laughter. After a few more submissions from twitter he started his own questions. Unlike the interview this morning, they were all about One Direction as a band. Their musical influences, who they dreamed of working with, everything. Not all of the questions were exactly original, but after so long of getting questions on their personal lives, this was refreshing. This is why Zayn wanted to be in this band, to make songs that were important to somebody. 

Zayn found himself answering more than he would usually in an interview. Most of the time it led to an longer conversation between him and Niall like what instruments they knew or would like to learn, or what they got their musical inspiration from. Niall’s knowledge really showed through his answers, and it was fascinating listening to him speak. Zayn was hooked.

At some point he saw Harry and Liam exchange surprised looks, but he just kept on.

They ended the video by singing One Direction’s last single, No Control. Louis put the other camera down and Niall played his guitar and the two of them sang along. Zayn had almost suggested they do one of the originals he’d seen on Niall’s channel, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted the blond to know just how many videos he’d seen.

Directly following Niall’s video, they shot Louis’. The whole thing was a blur for Zayn, and he barely paid attention as Louis had them do silly things with masks of the female band Little Mix over their faces.

All he could think about was the paper Niall had slid to him while Harry and Liam helped Louis set up his props.

_Let me know if you want to talk guitar tech some more :) xx (555) 555-5555_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Thanks xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so disclaimer: the phone conversation Niall has with Zayn was taken from the conversation Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy had with Dan Howell on Nick Grimshaw's radio show. Pete's whole interview can be found on BBC's website, I only transcribed the part where Pete and Dan are talking.

With his eyes on his phone, Niall didn’t notice the object sailing toward him until it landed on his face. The balled up shirt bounced into his lap and his eyes flickered to his friend sitting on his bed. “May I help you?”

Louis stuck his tongue out. “ _I’m_ supposed to be helping you. Packing. Remember? You’re leaving me to go on holiday tomorrow?”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t been doing the same.” Niall protested. “Always texting away and giggling to yourself like a nutter. Won’t even tell me who you’re talking to.”

“That’s what you get for abandoning me. And ignoring me for your new friend.” Louis sniffed.

“You’re the one who begged me to text Zayn in the first place!”

“Because I was sick of your pining!” Louis grabbed the nearest pillow whapped him in the face again.

Niall blushed and stared down at his phone. His reply to Zayn was half-finished, with arguably more exclamation marks than necessary. He wanted to deny his friend’s ‘pining’ comment but it would be a total lie.

The week after he and Louis shot their videos with One Direction was the most stressful Niall’s ever had. He didn’t know what possessed him to give a _famous pop star_ his number but he’d regretted it immediately. Niall obsessed over his brief lapse in sanity for three days. When his phone buzzed with a simple message _‘Vas happenin'? - Zayn’_ he’d collapsed on his couch for three hours. He didn’t move, for fear that his melted brain would leak out of his ears.

Louis took it upon himself to snatch the phone from his frozen fingers and sent the first answering text. After more poking and prodding he coached Niall - which just meant saying responses Niall texted out - until he was comfortable enough to do it himself.

Since then Niall and Zayn had texted every day. Niall had no idea how he had so much in common with a superstar he only met three weeks ago but he wasn’t about to complain. Especially since the entire conversation led up to Zayn asking Niall to ‘hang out’ at Glastonbury Festival when Niall came back from visiting family in Ireland. For once without all their friends. Just the two of them.

He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but Niall had a seed of hope that…. maybe.... this could be a date -

“Stop ignoring me.” Louis swung the pillow at his face again and he caught it. Niall wrestled it away from Louis to exact his revenge.

 

After Louis’ _many_ interruptions, Niall only managed to finish packing early the next morning. He had plenty of time before his flight that afternoon, so he decided to browse through his viewer’s comments online.

He was caught up in responding to a few Youtube comments when No Control blasted from his phone and it vibrated across his desk.

“Zayn?” Niall grinned. “What’s going on man?”

“Ni - Niall? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah mate. How are you?”

“We have a problem.”

The smile immediately slipped off his face. “Are you okay? Are Liam and Harry alright?”

“It’s about the videos we did. The one on Tommo91’s channel.”

“...Okay?”

“The gif of me - in the Perrie Edwards mask has become a meme.” Zayn said seriously.

Niall nodded to himself. He’d already seen it several times online. “Has it gone like super viral? Okay.”

“I guess Harry got bummed about it?” Niall froze. His mind went blank. “Then the whole band was bummed about it. I mean it makes us look pretty stupid. Is there a way to take it down?”

“The video?” He croaked.

“Yeah.” Zayn sounded irritated.

“A way to take the video down or remove the gif from the internet? Because that’s two different things, I guess.”

“Is there a way to do both?”

“Well I mean like if you guys are super bummed about it I’m sure you can ask Radio One and they’d probably just take it down.” Niall rubbed the back of his neck. “As for removing the gif from the internet I think that’s just kind of out there now.”

“No I’m on with him now.” Zayn’s voice sounded distant.

He cleared his throat and continued. “Oh okay well I’m pretty sure they can just take it down-”

“No I’m on with him right now talking to him about the gif.” Someone must have distracted him. Niall could just picture the band huddled together, and the sad puppy look on Harry’s face -

“Hello?”

“Hi?” Niall asked in confusion. Was Zayn still talking to someone else?

"Is there a way to take both down?”

Niall laughed nervously. “Um, you can definitely take the video down -”

“Don’t, hey no.” This time the other’s voice did sound angry, probably assuming he was being made fun of.

“Okay okay I’m sorry I’m sorry no no no.” Niall backtracked frantically. “No I understand, there’s a lot of horrifying gifs of me on the internet that I really regret being up there. That’s just one of those things about the internet you can take down the thing that started it, but once people have - you know saved it onto their computers, there’s nothing you can do so I mean-”

“I mean I don’t really want a lesson on the internet but can you ask Radio One to take it down?” Zayn said bluntly.

“I could. Yeah certainly, and then it could just be done.” And then Niall could just crawl under a rock and never speak to anyone ever again.

“Yeah I mean is there a way to get it down today?” Zayn asked.

“Uh, I mean probably it’s quite easy to take down a video.”

“Either we need the video to come down, or do you have a connection with Little Mix and get them to fit our image.”

 _What? What did that even mean?_ “Uh no I mean I’ve tried multiple times to have a connection with them but I just - I don’t do that. But I know people that probably could but that would require doing a lot of begging -”

“Who?” Zayn tried to ask, but Niall continued over him.

“But I would do that for you. Uh, Nick Grimshaw? I’m guessing?

“Who’s that?”

“Uh,” Niall gave a surprised laugh. “You must know who Nick Grimshaw is, otherwise - wow.”

“Grimsy?

“Grimsy yes yes. Otherwise known as Grimsy. That guy. Do you remember him?” Niall could have sworn that Nick had been waiting to interview Zayn’s band right after him and Louis.

“Nah.”

“I hear he’s buds with Perrie so if anyone could do it it’s probably him.”

Zayn’s talking over him again. “Well the thing is I just want to get the video down. And it’s less so me and more so - Harry is _bummed._ ”

Niall stood up again and paced restlessly around his kitchen. “Oh man. I really like Harry. And he looks really sad - when he’s sad and I- I don’t want that to happen. Alright uh-”

“I _need_ it to come down.” Zayn snapped.

“Okay. Yeah I don’t want it to be awkward if we see you guys again. I mean I understand - sometimes I worry that you guys don’t like me enough as it is cause of all things that we’ve done. But I don’t want this to be awkward so I’ll try as hard as I can to get it removed, and I’m sorry if we embarrassed you guys.”

There was a long pause before Zayn grunted in approval. “Alright."

“Hopefully we can stay kind of pals - not saying that we were pals but-”

“Nah.”

Right. Of course not. Niall swallowed hard over the lump in his throat. “I’ll try very hard I promise.”

“Ok thanks dude.” Zayn said flatly. He obviously believed Niall wasn’t going to come through with it.

“No worries maybe see you at Glastonbury?” He asked lightly, trying to end on a light note.

“Off the whole internet.” the singer repeated.

Niall yanked at his hair. “Completely get it all off the internet. Alright okay. Okay is that everything?”

“That’s it. Alright.”

“Alright thanks for calling me.” Niall finished brightly before hanging up.

Niall sunk down in his seat. He propped his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.

_This was an awful idea._

He should have known better. Louis’ plans were hardly ever funny to anyone but himself. Niall should pushed harder, said a firm no and stuck by it.

_You embarrassed them._

Just imagining the reactions of the band when they realized the stupid thing went viral made his chest clench and throat close up. He could picture Harry - bubbly, sweet Harry - getting all worked up. That would stir up the protective feelings within the others in the band, in addition to their individual humiliation.

_Zayn hates you._

“Louis,” Niall croaked. He wasn’t sure when he made the conscious decision to call his friend until he heard his voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey babe! How’s it going?”

“Are you busy? Where are you right now?”

There was a few seconds of silence, which Niall was too distracted to figure out. “I - I’m going - _out._ ” Louis sounded embarrassed.

“Can you do something for me? Please?”

The crack in Niall’s voice finally caught Louis’ attention. “What’s going on?” he demanded. “Did you make it home okay? Babe why are you crying?”

Niall squeezed his eyes shut against the tears as if Louis could see. “I’m about to leave. But I really fucked up, Lou.”

“Calm down, love. Take a deep breath.” he murmured.

“I - I just got a call from Zayn about the video the boys did for us. I guess some people GIFed the parts where they looked like right idiots and now it’s everywhere.”

“That’s just how the internet is, what-”

“They’re _really_ embarrassed, Louis. Zayn sounded right pissed, going on about how Harry’s just gutted over everyone making fun of them though most the attention seems to be focused on Zayn. He asked me to take down the video and the gif.”

Louis snorted. “Well that’s just not possible. The gifs can’t be magically removed.”

“I know, but I've got your password, I'm taking the video off your channel right now. Can you do me a huge favor and go to Radio One and get them to pull theirs off?”

“I’ll call them as soon as-”

“No, can you please go over there in person?” Niall begged. “It’s really urgent that it’s down today. _Please._ Zayn - he really hates me.”

“Oh, babe.” Louis sighed. “Of course. I’ll head over there right now. But there’s no way he hates you. Nobody could hate you.”

Niall swallowed hard. “H-he does. He was so _mad._ I really fucked up.”

“I’ll take care of it here. You just enjoy your break at home, yeah? Relax. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Despite his best friend’s attempts to comfort him Niall was still distraught. He quickly turned the computer back on to log out of his account and into Louis'. In less than five minutes the video was deleted and while he briefly considered making a post about it Niall decided not to. He did send out a quick tweet before shutting the computer off and collapsing facedown on his bed.

_Zayn hates you._

_@NiallOfficial: Major apologies to all the boys in 1D. Not as funny as I think, didn’t mean to hurt anyone! xx_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! Comments and kudos are always appreciated xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So this fic was supposed to be only four chapters, but chapter three was too long so I split it in two. This is technically chapter 3 pt 2. Hope you guys like it!

“Wow.” Grimmy whistled, giving him a huge smirk. “You’re good at this, mate. You’re really too good at this.”

Zayn laughed as Grimmy made fun of him some more. “Everyone, please go watch this video before it’s off the _whole_ internet, _forever._ Thanks for all the fun today, this has been Call or Delete with Zayn Malik and Nick Grimshaw.”

They pulled their headphones off and Nick spun his chair to face him. “I thought I was going to have to push you more, but you got right into it! I really hope Niall knows how to take a joke.”

Shaking his head, Zayn grinned. “Nah. I sent out a tweet to tip him off. Plus I’m gonna pop in for a visit after this.”

Grimmy raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. I didn’t know you two were close.”

“Yeah. He’s gonna going on holiday for a few days to visit his family so I thought I’d send him off with a quick lunch.”

“Am I missing something?” Grimmy fixed him with a look.

Zayn studied him for a moment. His eyes flickered to the microphones. “Off the record, yeah?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely.” Grimmy nodded. “Strictly between mates.”

He relaxed and leaned back in his chair. “Dunno, man. It’s been nuts. A few weeks ago we didn’t even know each other. Then we did his video together and we really hit it off. The five of us - the 1D boys with him and Lou - have hung out a few times since then. He’s a like a livewire, lighting up the room. He even brightens _me_ up. Niall’s just - he’s great, yeah?”’

Grimmy nodded, looking thoughtful. “That’s wonderful, Zee. It’s great and I’m happy for you both. Don’t let your boy get away.”

“I won’t.” Zayn said softly. Just thinking of the other boy made him smile softly. “I won't.”

 

As he was leaving Radio One Zayn checked his phone. He frowned when he noticed there were no messages from Niall, not even reacting to the #OhNoNiall he had tweeted halfway through the show. He pushed through the exit typing out a text to let Niall know he was on his way to pick him up.

“Shit!” Another body slammed into Zayn’s and sent his phone clattering to the sidewalk.

“My fault, mate. I wasn’t paying attention.” He kneeled down to pick up his phone and pick up a grocery bag the stranger dropped. “Sorry, here-”

“Zayn?” Louis’ eyes widened.

“Hey Lou!” Zayn grinned. “Vas happenin’?”

The other boy didn’t smile back. He gave Zayn a hard stare and snatched his grocery bag away from him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Seriously? I should be asking you!” Louis snarled. “Come with me. I’ll deal with you once I fix shit with Nick Grimshaw.”

“Uh, Grimmy just went home for the day.”

Louis let out a string of curses, making Zayn smile apologetically at the passersby giving them a wide berth. “Fine. Then let’s go to your hotel.” He didn’t give Zayn time to reply, marching off on his own.

“Er- I was on my way to your flat to talk to Niall.”

“Oh?” Louis whirled around and raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to apologize?”

Zayn felt lost. “For what?”

“Unbelievable.” Louis huffed. He ignored Zayn for the rest of the walk, muttering angrily to himself. A few fans recognized Zayn and made moves to approach and say hi, only to veer away when they caught the expression on Louis’ face.

Instead of finally explaining himself once they made it to the suite Zayn shared with his bandmates Louis stared at him impatiently until he opened the door.

“- he was going to pick me up for our movie almost an hour ago Liam. I don’t think he’s going to come-” Harry froze as Louis and Zayn entered the TV room.

Zayn and Liam stared as Louis dumped his grocery bags on the coffee table and went straight to Harry, curled up on the loveseat. “Sorry, love. I was running late and then an emergency came up.” Louis shot Zayn another venomous glare.

“Can you tell me what’s going on now?” Zayn demanded. His eyes flickered between the two of them. “Everything?”

Liam scrunched his eyebrows, also staring at the two wrapped up together. “Lou is your date?”

Harry nodded happily. Louis shrugged. “Are you really surprised?”

The other two bandmates shared a look. “Not really.” Zayn admitted, and Liam nodded in agreement.

“Good. Because this isn’t about me right now. It’s about Niall. And you.” He jabbed a finger in Zayn’s direction.

Zayn collapsed in the armchair on the other side of the coffee table across from Liam. His leg bounced anxiously as he waited for Louis to finally explain himself.

“Let me tell you about my day.” Louis said airily. “I woke up, had breakfast, then did some cleaning. I left to do some errands, got held up at the bank, then rushed to the store so I could pick up some stuff so I could go get my lovely date.” He poked Harry in the side, causing the younger boy to blush.

“Right when I pulled out my phone to send a message that I was going to be a little late, I get a call from my best mate Niall.” He turned his steely gaze back to Zayn. “Instead of telling me some last-minute reminders before going off on a peaceful holiday with his family, Niall’s a right mess. He’s crying and babbling about how he ‘fucked up’ and ‘ruined everything’ with Zayn. Begging me to go down to Radio One _in person_ and make them take down my prank video they featured with you three in it.”

Zayn could feel his stomach swoop painfully. He swallowed harshly and swore his blood was freezing in his veins. “I’ve gotta go.”

He was halfway out the door when something yanked him back. Liam had a hold on the back of his shirt, and gently guided him back inside. “What’s this about?” he asked.

“It was an interview.” Zayn raked a hand through his hair. “I was on with Grimmy. Made me do Call or Delete. The first time I got Ed Sheeran. Grimmy said I was too nice. Had to ‘make it good’ he said. Made me swear to be mean. Then I got Niall-” He was going to be sick.

“Oh no.” Harry gasped softly.

“I tried to warn him.” He said feebly. “I tried to text him, tweeted him before we called-”

“Zayn-” Louis tried. He didn't seem as angry as he had been, though he still looked irritated.

He shook his head. Darting quickly into his bedroom his grabbed his laptop and brought it back to his friends. It might be a long shot, but there was a chance the proof was already online. Zayn immediately went to BBC’s website and sure enough, the full audio was already posted. He clicked on it and skipped right to the last few minutes, right before his whole conversation with Niall.

Glancing at each of their faces, he watched their reactions carefully. Louis looked furious while Grimmy prodded at cajoled him into ‘being mean’ to ‘make it good.’ His expression softened at Zayn’s obvious reluctance and awkwardness at the start of the call. Even once Zayn gave in and started playing it up for effect, the expressions on his friends’ faces remained sad.

Most of that probably had to do with Niall’s tone during the whole conversation. Zayn didn’t know how he missed it the first time. The blond had started off sounding so excited, happy to hear from Zayn. His pitch rose and fell in confusion for a few minutes, giving way to nervousness then sadness quickly as the conversation wore on.

And then, by the end of the conversation Niall’s voice had been shaking-

“I’ve gotta go.” Zayn mumbled. He bolted before anyone could react.

 

Zayn didn’t know why he expected this to work, considering his luck today.

His first stop by Niall’s flat was a bust. He spent a few minutes knocking on the door, regretting leaving Louis - and his key - behind. Zayn directed his driver to take him to the airport next, even as his heart sank further and further in the pit of his stomach.

That’s where they found him half an hour later. Liam, Harry, and Louis sat in the chairs on either side of him without a word. Liam handed him a slice of pizza and they stared him down until he took small bites robotically.

They split up, Louis and Harry in one car and Zayn and Liam in the other so they could meet back in the hotel. Before they climbed in Zayn made eye contact with Louis.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

Louis pulled him into a hug. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are extremely appreciated xx


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is! I can't believe it's finally over (or that it took me so long)

Visiting Ireland used to be a hassle. As much as he loved seeing his family - especially his baby cousin Theo - being away from work and friends was just as hard. Technically Niall could do his videos anywhere, but his mum’s house didn’t have all the fancy equipment he and Louis had pooled their money to get. It wasn’t the same without Louis dragging him out after for drinks with the One Direction boys to watch him flirt with Harry.

During this holiday though, Niall welcomed the solitude. He got to see Theo and his brother’s family as well as his parents at his welcome dinner. After making several plans for other get togethers, his dad and Greg went to a hotel and his mum went to bed. Niall had the house to himself, and he could hole himself up in his childhood room.

Nobody cared if he spent most of the time wallowing face down on his bed. He couldn’t bother anybody here. Niall didn’t want to leave.

His mum noticed, of course she did. After dinner the third night she came in after he ran back and hid his face in his pillow.

“You okay, baby?” Maura murmured, rubbing his back soothingly.

“No.” Niall grunted. He buried his face deeper in the pillow before pulling back to look at her. “I will be.”

“Do I need to call Louis?”

Niall shook his head. “I just need to be away for a while.”

She still looked concerned. “Did something happen between you two?”

“No Louis and I are fine.” he assured her quickly. “Something else happened. I - I made a mistake. I have to deal with it.”

His mom ruffled his hair. “Okay. I’m here if you need me.” Maura kissed his forehead and left the room.

Niall glanced around his room and spotted his cell phone on his desk, where he’d let it die. Maybe he should text Louis. Ask him how it went at Radio 1, if he’d relayed Niall’s apology to all the One Direction boys, if Zayn was still mad…

With a groan Niall collapsed facedown on his bed again. Or maybe he could smother himself and not have to deal with this.

 

“Are you sure about this?”

“If it’s alright with you.” Niall nodded. “Just for two more days?”

His mom stroked the side of his face, brushing his hair back. “Love, I wouldn’t mind if you moved back in _forever._ But I don’t want to help you hide from your problems.”

Niall sighed. “I know mum. And I’ll deal with it. Just need a little more time, yeah?”

“Of course. But, since your holiday is technically over, I’ve let you sulk long enough. Come help me make lunch before we go to the shops.”

He followed his mom out of his room and into the kitchen. She appointed some tasks for him, but mostly let him do his own thing. Unlike his brother Greg - who never picked up many cooking skills and relied mostly on his wife Denise - Niall was a great cook. He was his mum’s junior assistant when he was little, and she taught him everything he knew. Including the knowledge of how awesome it was to eat a meal he’d created with his own two hands.

Together the two of them made enough beef stew, and fried cabbage and sausage to feed six people. Niall helped his mum start on the apple cake that would be dessert after dinner when Niall’s dad arrived. He set the table and a few minutes later Greg and Denise shuffled in with Theo.

As always, being around his family was a great distraction. Their chatter and general buzz was enough to distract him for a while, which was always a welcome break from wallowing in his room. Hopefully these next two days with them would have enough good vibes to carry him into next week.

After dinner, they all went out shopping and then the movies to take Theo to see Inside Out. The baby seemed to love it, and the adults also agreed it was pretty entertaining. They split up for the night, and Niall went to bed early to prepare for his last day tomorrow.

When Niall woke up, the routine was pretty much the same as yesterday. His family went out to the park with Theo this time, and Niall got to kick a football around with Greg. Their dad joined in while mom and Denise gently rocked Theo on the swings.

Once they all wore themselves out they trudged back in to relax. Denise, Greg, and his dad gathered in the living room with beers for some TV. Under his mom’s supervision, Niall made Shepherd’s Pie for dinner on his own. After everyone was seated Niall went about setting out the food when the doorbell rang.

“Get that, would you love?” His mom asked.

Nialll jogged over to the door and swung it open. “Hello?”

“Hi.”

He froze. “Zayn?”

“Who is it, Nialler?” His dad called.

Zayn gave him a small smile. “Hey _Nialler._ ”

For a long moment Niall couldn’t speak. It was like he swallowed his tongue. His chest ached as if his lungs were caving in. “Zayn.”

“Hurry it up, Niall, we’re starving here!” Greg complained. His mom walked over to them.

“Who’s this, sweetheart?” She eyed the stranger standing at the entrance of her home.

“This is - it’s - “ Niall wheezed.

Zayn held his hand out. “Good evening. My name is Zayn Malik.”

“Welcome, Zayn. You’re a friend of Niall’s?” She eyed her son curiously, looking mildly concerned at the choking sounds he was emitting.

“Yes ma’am.” Zayn rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I apologize for intruding, but I was wondering if I could have a few words with him?”

Maura hummed. “We’re just sat down for dinner. Would you like to join us?”

“Mom!” Niall cried. They both ignored him.

“Oh I’d hate to bother.” Zayn stated. “I just came to talk to Niall.”

“Talking can wait. Food can’t. Come on in, it’s getting cold.” She headed back into the house. After a quick glance at Niall and a small shrug, Zayn followed her. Niall stayed by the door for a few more seconds, thumping his forehead against the doorway.

When he rejoined his family in the kitchen, the first thing he noticed was the look on Denise’s face. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was dropped open. “Zayn Malik? Niall? You know _Zayn Malik?_ ”

Oh right. For a few moments Niall forgot the dinner guest casually sitting next to him was a world-famous musician. A rockstar, who probably had better things to do than sit in a small Irish town in a small Irish house eating food from a mediocre chef.

Zayn spoke up in Niall’s silence. “A mutual friend introduced us. I got to be in one of Niall’s YouTube videos. He’s proper talented, yeah?”

Niall tightened his grip on his knife and fork. Why was he lying? Why was he being so charming and friendly with his family? Why did they all seem to be getting along so well?

“The food is delicious, Ms. Gallagher.” Zayn sighed, patting his stomach. Niall’s chest constricted, in both pain and surprise that the other had remembered. Niall had told him ages ago that his parents were divorced, and his mother went back to her maiden name.

“Thank you dear. But Niall made dinner tonight.”

Since Niall wasn’t looking at him - couldn’t look at him - Zayn nudged his shoulder to get his attention. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

Niall shrugged and kept his eyes on his untouched plate.

“That’s incredible, Nialler.” Zayn murmured quietly, and with the chatter from the rest of his family Niall was pretty sure he was the only one who heard. He swallowed hard.

_Why was he here?_

 

After stuffing him full of second helpings and a round of dessert with coffee, Maura finally let Zayn head up to Niall’s room. Niall had gone up himself halfway through a conversation where his dad and Greg tried teaching Zayn everything they knew about football in ten minutes. He waited alone until he heard the footsteps outside his door, no less ready to deal with this conversation than he had when he first let Zayn into his house.

Zayn opened the door and peeked inside. “Hey, Niall.”

“Hey Zayn.” Niall sat on his bed, picking at threads on his pillowcase. “Look, I don’t know if you’re here to yell at me some more or whatever, but the video’s gone and I promise I’ll leave you alone-”

Zayn quickly crossed the room to stand in front of him. He yanked Niall to stand and wrapped his arms around him without a word.

“Um- what?” Niall’s voice was muffled by his mouthful of Zayn’s shirt.

“I’m so sorry Niall.” He murmured. He was slightly taller could rest his cheek on the top of Niall’s head. “Harry told me I was shit at hiding how much I _liked_ you, but then I had to go muck it all up and you probably think the opposite.”

Putting his hands on his chest Niall gently pushed him away. “What are you talking about?”

Zayn raked a hand through his hair. The cut was shorter since Niall had last seen him. It looked nice. “I’m trying to apologize. I had this whole plan - Louis made me wait for you to come back so you could relax on your holiday. Then I’d show up at your flat with sweets and a whole speech. But then you didn’t come back and I - I thought I’d go nuts. Wheedled your information from Lou and took the first plane out here. So I could tell you I’m sorry.”

Shrugging, Niall stared down at his feet. “Nothing to apologize for. We’re the ones who messed up.”

With a groan Zayn stepped even closer to him. He gently cupped Niall’s cheek and tilted his head up so they could make eye contact. “You didn’t make a mistake, Niall. I did. I had an interview with Nick Grimshaw, and we played call or delete. Have you heard of it?”

Niall nodded.

“Before the show I tweeted ‘Uh oh, look out’ but I would have warned you if I’d known it was going to be you. The second call was yours and I tweeted 'Oh no Niall' because I hoped you would see it and know I was joking. I tried texting you after, too. But I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Should’ve deleted your number on air, then gotten it back during our lunch date. Shouldn’t have let you get hurt.”

“So… it was all a joke?” he asked slowly. Niall almost didn’t believe him, but the way Zayn had said ‘date’ made a bubble of hope rise in his chest.

“Yeah.” Zayn nodded. He stroked his thumb over Niall’s cheek, and he realized Zayn was still cupping his face. “I’m so sorry, Niall.”

A blush bloomed over his face, and Niall could feel the heat spread down his neck. “Now I feel like an idiot. I should’ve known it was a joke. I know you’re a- you’re an amazing guy. Not the type to be an arse for no reason. We were friends, I shoudn’t have believed you suddenly hated me.”

“Not your fault.” He protested. He shifted even closer, looking at Niall seriously. “Friends don’t treat each other like that. Especially when they want to be a little more than friends, yeah?” This time it was Zayn’s turn to blush pink.

“Yeah?” Niall breathed, his heart racing.

“Yeah.” Zayn whispered back. He was so close even the small movement caused their lips to brush, just barely. He leaned lower and Niall shifted closer until they could finally share a warm kiss.

 

_**One month later** _

“If the four of you are done being nauseating, I believe we had dinner plans.”

“Leemo’s just jealous Soph couldn’t be in this one.” Louis snorted. At his side, Harry rolled his eyes and pinched his boyfriend’s side. The older one squawked indignantly and chased him into the kitchen.

“Well guys, you asked for it! Big thanks to the One Direction boys for being in our boyfriends tag video.” Niall beamed. “Thanks for watching!”

An arm slid around his shoulders and pulled him close. “Hurry up babe. Liam’s gonna get moody soon if we don’t get some food in him.”

Niall flashed a grin at Zayn. “One more second, Zee.” He turned back to the camera. “Remember guys, keep an eye out for my video the next few days. I’m interviewing a new band all the way from Australia.”

“Maybe you found our opening act.” Zayn teased. “Might take them on tour with us.”

“Never know!” Niall flashed a peace sign at the camera for a few minutes before standing to turn it off. “Don’t know why I did that. Remind me to edit that out later, but now it’s time for food!”

“Finally.” Liam grumbled, but the smile on his face let them know there was no real anger behind it.

“Ready?” Louis asked from where he stood by the door. He had one arm around Harry’s waist, the younger boy comfortably tucked against his body.

“Yeah.” Niall nodded. He raised an eyebrow at Zayn. “Yeah?”

Zayn pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before tangling their fingers together. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. All of your feedback has been incredible, and means the world to me.  
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated xx


End file.
